Winter Snowflakes

Yeah, I want to share my after Christmas clearance find...

 On a Michael's trip, I picked up a large snowflake stamp from Hero Arts. I just had to come home and create with it.  I wanted a look that would fit the cold of January. I loved the aqua and red combination on the background along with a simple and sweet sentiment from Mama Elephant.

I embossed the stamped image with Platinum embossing powder over a background I had created with Distress Stains ans a Tim Holtz sweater stencil.  I then cut another snowflake with a Hero Arts die, cutting it from a vellum type paper.  

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

AAA Cards Challenge - It's all about GOLD

 I can't even think of a more fun challenge for the New Year then to use GOLD.  It seems everything is about Gold this holiday season and so be sure to pull out your Gold accents and give the AAA Cards challenge a try.

 I wanted to use a new stamp set from PaperTrey, Inc that I bought recently so I stamped the leaves and embossed them with gold embossing powder.  

Next I simply played with several colors of inks to create a watercolor background.  I kept playing with it and adding more colors until I liked it, then I left it to dry. I just love what happens when it dries! I also used some Gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine and a little Gold dot piece of chipboard.

Be sure to play along at AAA Cards.

My card also fits the Runway Inspired challenge.

I am also submitting this to the Simon Says challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Candy Canes and Santa

My card doesn't really have any candy canes on it but these colors sure make you think of a red and white striped cane.

 This goes along with the Curtain Call challenge.  I created the background with a stencil and some red spray ink and I love the result.  The sentiment is from My Favorite Things stamps, I like the font they used. 

 I used this Santa before, he is a great stamp from Paula Best and she doesn't make stamps anymore.  I am loving the vintage Santa look this year, so he was a fun accent.   

Here is the Curtain Call challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Little Birdie

My card was pretty serious until I added on that adorable little Christmas birdie.

 I started out with black Distress Stain and watercolor paper. From there I added some Pewter Distress Spray.  I am so in love with how the inks dry and create such interesting patterns.

 Next I stamped some snowflakes using Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.  The word "peace" is a die from Winnie & Walter and the little Christmas birdie is from Lawn Fawn.  

 This fits with the City Crafter Colour Challenge.

And the Merry Monday Christmas card challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Merry and Joy

I have been making so many Christmas or Winter cards and I have been having so much fun with different techniques and stamps and dies and inks!!!

 I picked up a set of stamps with a matching die at Michaels from Hampton Arts.  I love snowflakes so I really can't have too many snowflake stamps and dies! I stamped a few of the images over my funky inked background. 

 I love playing with the Distress Stains and watercolor paper so I just mixed a few Christmas colors to create a background.  The biggest snowflake was cut out with the matching die so it could be added separate.  

 This goes with the retro sketch for this week.

 This card ended up being a bit more elegant.  Everyone seems to be creating with gold this year so I pulled out a piece of shiny gold paper I had and cut this out with a My Favorite Things die. The joy is a die from Wplus9 Designs.

 I then added a few pretty snowflakes using dies.  The biggest one is from Hero Arts, the smaller ones are from Wplus9 Designs. 

This goes along with the Inkspirational challenge to use GOLD.

It also fits the CAS-ology SNOW challenge.

These also go along with the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge for Winter Inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Snowy Trees

We don't get snow where I live but I sure love to create things about snow.

 Here I used some Tim Holtz trees stamped in white and embossed with white. They then acted as a resist to the addition of blue inks added on watercolor paper.

 I stamped a few snowflakes here and there with the same blue inks.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

This card goes along with the CAS-ology SNOW challenge.

This also fits the Virginia's View Distressed challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Why not have a yellow tree

I love using a color combination challenge to create with.

 Here I used the Colour Q combo to create a Christmas card.  It really made for a fun out-of-the-box card.

 I used a tree stamp from Tim Holtz.  The stamp has four trees on it.  I inked the stamp with different colors of Distress Stain, stamped that on a piece of watercolor paper that was spritzed with water first.  This always gives a watercolor look to the stamped image.  I just stamped that stamp a few times.  I added color and pattern to the corners with a dot stencil.  The sentiment is from a stamp set by Simon Says Stamp. 

Here is the Colour Q challenge with a super cute imspiration piece.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

The AAA Cards challenge and Christmas plaid

 Swoon, plaid just seems to go with a Christmas theme. So glad it is part of the AAA Cards challenge for the next two weeks. 

 I pulled out a piece of red plaid patterned paper and the rest was simple.  The square frames were cut with my new My Favorite Things dies.  Love the "Merry" die by Simon Says Stamp cut from red glitter cardstock.

That neat snowflake stamp is by Tim Holtz.  I embossed it with white on black cardstock.  The square it is one is added with foam tape for dimension although that is a little bit hard to see here.

Hope you can play along at AAA Cards.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

O Christmas Tree

Another Christmas card to share...

 I am trying to put a big focus right now of creating Christmas cards.  I am going with different designs rather then mass producing lots of the same thing. More fun creating that way.  For this one, my main piece is a black tree. Not your usual color but it ends up as a fun combination. 

 The tree is from Wplus9 Designs  The little heart is part of the stamp, I stamped an additonal one, cut that out, colored it with red and added some Glossy Accents.  The background to the entire card is some red Distress ink blended over a dot stencil. Such a fun way to create a simple background. I added some sprays of Pewter Distress Stain, an amazing silver spray and my mat on the card is silver paper. 

This fits with the Paper Players Black Tie challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Shiny Gold and Vintage Santas

I am having so much fun creating cards for Christmas.

 For this card I pulled out an older stamp I have had for awhile. It is by Paula Best, I always enjoyed her style.  The sentiment is a die from Simon Says Stamp.

 I went a little unusual for my coloring.  I added color with Copic Markers and then added shine with some Distress Spray in Pewter.  That dot background was created with a dot stencil and some gold Embossing paste. I love how this embossing paste looks.  I took this photo at an angle to try to show off the shine of the gold dots. 

 I used the Inkspirational challenge to use Gold.

And the Addicted to CAS challenge to use DOTS.

And the Wednesday Simon Says challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Merry Snow People

Of course, a Christmas card should have some snow people.

 For this card, I went to a Stampendous set of little snow people to create the accents to my card.  That great striped background is created with a stencil. I sprayed red ink on it, I liked the way the stripes are irregular.  

 This set includes parts of snow people so it is fun to play with these pieces.  I used two of the heads with their cute hats and scarfs.  Placing them on the tag was a fun foundation.  My card goes along with the Simon Says Stamp challenge. The tag is a die cut from Reverse Confetti.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Merry, Red and Snowflakes

All good things for a Christmas card.

 I used the retro sketch for my inspiration and a great Tim Holtz stamp for the main image.  I had colored a piece of cardstock with some red Distress Ink and then stamped the snowflake over that with black ink and embossed that with clear embossing powder.  That really neat die cut word is from Winnie & Walter.  

 I added some white with a white colored pencil.  I liked how subtle the colored pencil white was for adding some interest.  

 Here is the retro sketch.
And for a photo...

It's chilly outside

At least that is what my card looks like - here in Southern California we really are not all that cold even with a little bit of welcome rain.

 I used one of my newest Tim Holtz stamps for the main image on my card.  A snowman doesn't usually take a whole lot of coloring so that is good.  The most fun part of my card is the background.  I blended on color with a few shades of Distress Ink.  That was then splattered with a little bit of water and some dots using a stencil and some Soft Gesso. 

 I cut the snowman out and added him with foam tape for dimension.  His black hat was given a coat of Glossy Accents so it was shiny.  

I used the wonderful colors from Color Throwdown for my inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)